Guest article by Hans Jakhar on Rajendra Krishna’s combination with Madan Mohan
(Hans Jakhar is among the regular readers of SOY who believe that the lyricists deserve greater recognition than what is generally given to them. It is true that even the serious followers of old film music give prominence to the singer and the music director of a song, almost to the point of lack of any recognition to the lyricist. I myself belong to this camp, resulting in a conspicuous gap in the coverage of lyricists on this blog. Hans Jakhar has offered to fill up this gap. He wrote a nice article on Shakeel Badayuni’s combo with Ravi about two years ago. Recently, he decided to write a series of articles on Rajendra Krishna’s combination with some of his principal music directors. The first article in the series was on his combination with C Ramchandra. This second article in the series is on Rajendra Krishna’s most popular and lasting combination with the music director Madan Mohan.
Readers familiar with Hans Jakhar’s style know that he is very meticulous in his data and presentation of facts. Besides, his love for the lyrics flows out of his articles. This is another treat for those looking for substantive articles on the lyricists. Thanks a lot Hans for your efforts. – AK)
This is the second post in the series on Rajendra Krishna. This was already scheduled to be the second in the series, being the most important and long lasting pair Rajendra Krishna made with a composer. This came second in the series because C Ramchandra (CR)-Rajendra Krishna combo had become enormously famous before this one. Avinash Kumar and Mahesh pointed this out and I immediately agreed. The fact that Rajendra Krishna wrote lyrics for 36 of Madan Mohan’s films and 268 songs out of his total output of 614 (name of the lyricist of two songs from film Beti (1957) is not known, so I am not counting them) is hardly the only recommending feature of their enduring relationship which went on for 25 years.
It is well known to SOY followers that Madan Mohan is one of the most elaborately covered composers on this blog. There are 11 posts on him – in different categories – including three by guest authors (two by DP Rangan and one by Madan Mohan’s daughter Sangeeta Gupta). After removing overlaps – which are quite a good number – a total of 98 songs were posted in the main articles. Out of these 98, sixty-four were written by Rajendra Krishna. This statistic shows that while in total number of songs Rajendra Krishna had less than 44 per cent share, his share is more than 65 per cent in selection of these three stalwarts.
Now let me have a look at various lyricists used by Madan Mohan. He used in all 33 lyricists, of which prominent ones besides Rajendra Krishna were, Kaifi Azmi (14 films 68 songs), Raja Mehdi Ali Khan (11 films 64 songs) and Majrooh Sultanpuri (8 films and 49 songs). He also used Sahir Ludhiyanavi in 3 films for 23 songs, Hasrat Jaipuri in 4 films for 18 songs, Kaif Irfani 4 for 17, Indeevar 6 for 15 and Qamar Jalalabadi 2 for 12. The remaining 24 accounted for only 80 of his songs, none of them managing double figures.
Similar to these figures for lyricists, his pattern of use is also very interesting. Raja Mehdi Ali Khan (RMAK) has been covered by DP Rangan and he produced some of Madan Mohan’s most remembered songs in a particular period in the 60s. Madan Mohan used him as the lyricist in his first three films up to 1951(14 songs), but he actually forgot that there was a person by that name for more than a decade and remembered him 11 years later in Anpadh, but then onwards the association was regular till RMAK’s death. Madan Mohan came together with Kaifi Azmi in 1964 with Haqeeqat and continued with him in the later half quite regularly, with a result he surpassed every other lyricist in number of songs except Rajendra Krishna. Majrooh Sultanpuri came to MM fold with Baaghi (1953) and continued irregularly till Dastak (1970). Sahir Ludhiyanavi was used just thrice in each decade, Railway Platform (1955), Ghazal (1964) and Laila Majnu (1976).
With so much volume with Rajendra Krishna, one would think their combo had some smooth pattern, but that is not so. In the first two years 1952 and 53 they had two films together out of seven. Then in the next 9 years from 1954 to 62 it was Rajendra Krishna all over the place getting 25 films out of 36. In the next six years from 1963 to 68, due to the dent made by RMAK and Kaifi Azmi, he did only 7 films out of 23. Next five years were worse in which Rajendra Krishna did not get a single film out of 14. Then again Rajendra Krishna returned with Chowkidar (1974) and Sahib Bahadur (1977).
In his comment on CR-Rajendra Krishna combo, Mahesh commented that the songs of MM-Rajendra Krishna are better known. While agreeing with him I had given some facts. I would like to elaborate further on that. I think most of the experts agree that remembrance of songs continues decreasing with time. So we find songs of 30s are remembered less than those of 40s and so on. Besides this, there is another aspect relevant in the comparison between CR and MM, and that is availability of Radio. Availability of the Radio facility was becoming progressively better and better as 60s wore on. If we look at figures, MM composed about 300 songs 1961 onwards, while CR’s output was a little more than a hundred in that period. A practical example is Jahan Ara (1964), which is said to have run for only four days in cinema halls, but its songs are still fresh in the minds of music lovers thanks to the Radio Era. So while comparing between MDs, we should keep in mind such facts.
Now I look at another aspect which contributed a lot to the success of this combo and that was the use of singers. Details are available for 265 of the songs. Out of these, 190 were solos (128 female/62male) and 75 duets. On the female side 118 solos were shared between Lata Mangeshkar (70) and Asha Bhosle (48), while the remaining 10 were shared by 5 singers – Geeta Dutt (6) and one each by Shamshad Begum, Sudha Malhotra, Kamal Barot and Usha Khanna. On the male side, Rafi got the lion’s share with 32 and the remaining 30 were shared between Kishore Kumar (10), Talat Mahmood (9), Manna Dey (5), Mahendra Kapoor (3), Mukesh (2) and Hemant Kumar (1). On the duets side barring 8, other songs had either of the 3 main singers for MM: Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.
Now let us discuss what this combo produced. Aashiana (1952) was their first film with 9 songs. The impact the music of this film had can be gauged by the fact that 5 songs have already been part of various posts and I am going to include one. This will still leave out ‘Mere piya se koi ja ke kah de, jeevan ka sahara teri yaad re’. The three years of 1956 to 58, produced a flurry of prominent films Bhai Bhai, Fifty Fifty, Mem Sahab and Pocketmaar (1956), Dekh Kabira Roya, Gateway of India (1957) and Adaalat, Jailor and Khota Paisa (1958) and the combo was on a roll, producing song after song of a very high quality.
I would be discussing Rajendra Krishna’s poetic excellence during this series. Here I give one or two of his traits before I proceed with the songs selected. AK listed the song ‘Tum chand ke sath chale aao ye raat suhani ho jaye‘ at number three in his MM-Lata Mangeshkar post. This is such a beautiful song, set in ghazal format, which did not get its due (except at SOY). Look at the first antara.
खामोश किनारे सोये हैं, चुपचाप हैं नदिया की लहरें,
इठलाते हुए तुम आ जाओ, लहरों में रवानी आ जाये
Compare this with these lines from the second antara of the song ‘Jab din haseen, dil ho jawan, kyun na manayen picnic‘ – Adaalat.
पानी का शोर, लहरों का जोर, आ तोड़ दें
तूफ़ान में नाव, मिलजुल के आओ, सब छोड़ दें
In the first case the imagery of nadiya, kinare, lahrein shows also the state in which her emotions are and she wants him to change all that. Use of ‘ithlate huye‘ indicates the calm entry. Calm entry needed to end the calmness. And in the second case meet fire of the ‘lehron ka jor‘ with your own fire of combined action. Just unbelievable poetry. I have noticed so many nice turns and twists used by Rajendra Krishna in his songs. Those composers who used him were lucky, I would say.
Be it the three ghazals of Adaalat or the three back to back songs of Dekh Kabira Roya (1957) or the double dhamaka of ‘Na hanso humpe‘ and ‘Sapne men sajan se‘ of Gateway of India (1957) or ‘Kadar jaane na‘ from Bhai Bhai (1956) or ‘Hum pyar men jalne waalon ko’ from Jailor (1958), all contributed to the forming of the MM-Lata Mangeshkar legend we know. But, has the name of Rajendra Krishna been taken in the same breath for the great lyrics he contributed which formed the basis of the legend. For a ghazal to be great the first ingredient is great lyrics. But, I don’t know why only MM and Lata Mangeshkar were mentioned. I can give about a dozen examples from the songs I just mentioned, but, I would give here just one stunning couplet.
मुरझा चुका है फिर भी ये दिल फूल ही तो है
अब आपकी ख़ुशी इसे काँटों में तोलिये
The question is open to everyone.
Now I move on to selection of songs. I would leave alone all those which have already been posted though I would have liked to comment on the great lyrics of many of them. But, there are so many great songs that I have to work hard and look for non-existent reasons to eliminate songs from a long first list. As usual, I would go in chronological order.
1. Mera qaraar le ja mujhe beqaraar kar ja – Aashiana – 1952 – Lata Mangeshkar
This film has 9 songs and this is the 6th being posted at SOY. This is a twin song and while agreeing with AK that in most of such songs male version comes out better, I would like to say that I like the Lata Mangeshkar version better. Lyrics in this version fit better to the theme of the song. Here is the first antara. I have listened to many songs asking for miseries, but the words here are just exceptional.
मेरी ज़िन्दगी की रातें आ दर्द से बसा दे
दिल सोग से है खाली इक आग सी लगा दे
मेरी ख़ुशी का दामन आ तार तार कर जा
2. ABC ABC mere sapnon men chori chori aaya karo ji – Ilzaam – 1954 – Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar
In this fun song Rajendra Krishna takes us through the whole of English alphabet with fitting words for giving a light effect. He was a wordsmith of such songs, a number of which filled the CR booty. In the same year in the film Mastana with MM, he wrote ‘Tikki choki panji chhakki satti athi nahla, nache more angana men munna pehla pehla‘ with Rafi, Shamshad and Kishore being the singers.
3. Bhagwan jo tu hai mera insaf karega – Bhai Bhai – 1956 – Lata Mangesjkar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc-36w2Dlng
This was his first big hit film which could not complete the silver jubilee because of the differences between the producer and distributor. The biggest hit of the film was ‘Ae dil mujhe bata de‘ by Geeta Dutt, which has been included by all the three AK, DP Rangan and Sangeeta Guta in their posts. But, Lata had a number of good songs including the eternal ‘qadar jane na’. But, this one perfectly depicts the main theme of the story where Ashok Kumar deserts his wife Nirupa Roy in favour of the fraud Shyama.
4. Kab tak tu bhagwan se apna aap chhupayega – Fifty Fifty – 1956 – Rafi
The lyrics of this song are based on very common Hindu religious philosophy which were turned into a superb song by this combo. Though the whole song is great but here I am giving only the first antara.
जो सागर के अंदर सीपी बीच छुपाये मोती
देख रही है सब कुछ लोगो उस मालिक की ज्योति
जग का भेदी क्या बन्दे से धोखा खायेगा
MM used Rafi in a number of such songs and on minor characters for a long time. Mumbaikar8 has often commented that Rafi was not being used on lead actors by most of the MDs in the 50s. MM is known to be a pro-Rafi MD, but he also was in that category and I could never understand why.
5. Ishq ik zahar sahi phir bhi piye jata hoon – Mem Sahib – 1956 – Asha Bhosle
This film has some good and popular songs like ‘Dil dil se mila kar dekho’, ‘Kahta hai dil tum ho mere liye’. This film has another song ‘Chunni munni chuniya, O tunni munni tuniya‘ which is addressed to a puppy on birthday celebrations of a dog. I thought of including this also but the list was getting long, so I kept just this one. This song I discovered in internet era and immediately fell in love with. I give here the best sher of this ghazal.
जो किसी रोज़ मेरी मौत का बाइस होंगे
उन हसीनों की तमन्ना में जिए जाता हूँ
6. Ladi aankh se aankh muhabbat ho gayi – Pocketmaar – 1956 – Lata Mangeshkar, Rafi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8REXpW3a4g8
This is another fun song resulting from a situation after Nadira slaps both Gope and Dev Anand. The street singers start the song and Gope and Dev Anand join the fun. The lyrics are great as always.
7. Humse aaya na gaya tumse bulaya na gaya – Dekh Kabira Roya – 1957 – Talat Mehmood
This film is a treasure trove of great songs. Our three stalwarts who wrote on MM, have already preyed on 5 of the 10. I was lucky this one was left for me because this is my favourite. Rajendra Krishna has cobbled up words in each antara of 4 lines like a master. Enjoy the song which is filmed on Anoop Kumar.
8. Ye raah badi mushkil hai anjaan abhi tera dil hai – Gateway of India – 1957 – Geeta Dutt
‘Sahra ki chamakti reti, paani ka hai dhokha deti,
Masoom nazar kya jane, ye sholon ki hai kheti,
Mat pyas bujha, dhokhe mein na aa, ye badi tedhi manzil hai’.
How craftily Rajendra Krishna used the desert mirage in his words of caution being given by the night club dancer. Anita Guha gave perfect emotions of a cabaret dancer in her guest role.
9. Na hanso humpe zamaane ke hain thukraye hue – Gateway of India – Lata Mangeshkar
These songs are so well known that it is futile to praise them. One of the great ghazals from the pen of Rajendra Krishna, which was instrumental in making the MM-Lata Mangeshkar legend. Each sher of the ghazal is like gold, but look at this one which is just out of this world.
‘Baat kal ki hai ke phoolon ko masal dete the,
Aaj kanton ko bhi seene se hain liptaaye hue.’
10. Hum pyar men jalne walon ko chain kahan – Jailor – 1958 – Lata Mangeshkar
This song falls in the category of the previous song. In radio days I have listened to this song countless number of times, this was so frequently played on radio. Just mesmerising.
11. Haseeno sambhalo apni ye duniya – Khota Paisa – 1958 – Rafi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKEeJXGk3b4
This is the song for eternity. Rajendra Krishna wrote so many songs for situations on Johny Walker and this is one of the best. Johny Walker (JW) is going on his short lived ‘sanyas’ and Rajendra Krishna has found the words ‘Chun chun ke‘ for the situation. This song is a viewers’ as well as listeners’ delight, because of the antics of JW.
12. Ho sakta hai kaanton se bhi phool ki khushboo aaye, duniya na mane – Dunya Na Maane – 1959 – Manna Dey
If one has not listened to this lesser known song and assumes that I included this song just for giving Manna Dey a representation here, she would change her opinion after listening to the song. Rajendra Krishna has summed up the general ‘tedhi chaal‘ of duniya or zamana in this song in perfect words, to say again ‘Chun chun ke’. ‘Chamke to tara maane or toote to angara‘ followed by ‘Ho sakta hai angara ik din shabnam ban jaye, duniya na maane’. This song has two versions. (I have retained the pure Manna Dey version above. Another version occurs at the credit titles. Interestingly, in this version, Mukesh sings the opening line in a recital style, before Manna Dey starts the song. – AK)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT3zmJ3PFO0
13. Aeji biwi ko ghar men bithla kar baahar tum kyun jaate ho – Minister – 1959 – Rafi, Asha Bhosle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTi-OUPNEDw
Again masterly treatment to the eternal husband wife nok jhonk by Rajendra Krishna. And beautifully played on screen by Bhagwan and Tuntun.
जनम से ही झगड़ालू है इस दुनिया की हर श्रीमती
क्यों न रहे कँवारे जी तुम काहे को फिर बने पति
पति बने तो श्रीमती से अब क्यों आँख चुराते हो
14. Adosan padosan kahe so kahe main to saiyan se naina milaye aayi re – Bahana – 1960– Shamshad Begum
This is the only solo from this combo for Shamshad Begum and what a song. Rajendra Krishna keeps close to the situation in every antara as always. This song reminds of the Rafi song ‘Koi bura kahe ya kahe bhala, main shadi karne chala’. (This reminds me of Amir Khusro’s ‘Main to piya se naina laga aayi re’, sung by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and sung by so many Qawwali singers. – AK)
15. Guzre hain is tarah se duniya mein din hamare – Bahana – Lata Mangeshkar
गुजरे हैं इस तरह से दुनिया में दिन हमारे
भीगे रहे हमेशा आँखों के दो किनारे
One of the most powerful mukhda for a sad song, followed by comparable lyrics, the great tune by MM and super rendition by Lata Mangeshkar make it a gem of a song. But, it still never got its due and remained lesser known. I think it was the problem of the plenty for MM-Lata Mangeshkar that even AK, who is a die-hard fan of her did not include in his list given in the MM-Lata Mangeshkar post.
16. Wo bhooli daastan lo phir yaad aa gayi – Sanjog – 1961 – Lata Mangeshkar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eck2SLGe2sc
Just the link and I will only say that whenever you listen to this gem again, consider the fact that these lines – full of poetry – were written by Rajendra Krishna. In addition to this song filmed on Anita Guha, there is another well-known song lip-synced by Pradeep Kumar, ‘Bhooli hui yaado’ already covered by both AK and DP Rangan. Although both songs are about memories, you can see how differently Rajendra Krishna treats them in lyrics.
17. Chanda ja re jaare ja, kahe aaya hai akela – Manmauji – 1962 – Lata Mangeshkar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aszK8lxG6o
There are at least 5 songs of this combo which contain the words ‘ja re ja re’ in various forms. I wonder if this was the favourite phrase of any one or both of them. This film had some very good and popular songs. My first choice would have been ‘Main to tum sang nain mila ke haar gayi sajna‘, but that has been covered by AK. This one is lip-synced by a ‘chandramukhi‘ and talks about her piya who is like ‘chaand‘. I dont know whose face Rajendra Krishna visualised when writing the following lines, because Kishore Kumar hardly falls in that category.
आ तुझको पहचान बता दूँ वो लगता है कैसा
नदिया में मुख देख ले अपना वो भी होगा वैसा
18. Kisi ki yaad men duniya ko hain bhulaye hue – Jahan Ara – 1964 – Rafi
About this film, there are various stories of the struggle MM had to go through to convince the producer to let him use Talat Mahmood. Die-hard Rafi fans too criticise him for neglecting Rafi. I will give here defence for MM, though I am also a die-hard Rafi fan. I have talked about MM not using Rafi on lead actors, but by 1964 he had started using Rafi on lead actors too. In 1964 eight MM films were released which had 22 male solos. Rafi sang 19 of them, the only exception being the three songs given to Talat Mahmood in this film. Using Talat, who was a ghazal specialist, in this film which was studded with such stuff was in my view a good decision. Variety was another reason for using him, seeing that in all other films of the year he was using Rafi. Still MM gave the great romantic ghazal to Rafi – on the same character – fully believing that Rafi would give an extraordinary treatment to a romantic ghazal.
19. Wo chup rahen to mere dil ke daag jalte hain – Jahan Ara – Lata Mangeshkar
This song is filmed on Minoo Mumtaz, who is trying to divert Bharat Bhushan from his love for Mala Sinha as Jahan Ara which was sure to fail. There was no equal to Rajendra Krishna in understanding the depth of the situation and translating that into the most apt words. I will give here only the second antara. For those who believe that all film songs were written on pre-set tunes, I would like to say that it is next to impossible to write such lyrics on a pre-set tune.
‘Ye khoi khoi nazar, kabhi to hogi idhar ya sada rahegi udhar,
Udhar to ek sulagta hua hai veerana,
Magar idhar to bahaaron men baag jalte hain.’
20. Banda parwar raat ke andhere men yun chori chori – Pooja Ke Phool – 1964 – Asha Bhosle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FquQ4BRuw7g
I like this naughty sole solo given to Asha Bhosle in the otherwise feast of Lata Mangeshkar solos, though she accompanied Rafi in duets due to the so called Lata Mangeshkar boycott of Rafi. Look at the naughty words of the first antara.
तार आया देखिये आपके ससुराल से
सास कुंवारी आपकी बैठी है सत्तर साल से
मिले अगर, कोई अच्छा वर, बेचारी का आबाद हो घर.
21. Mujhe le chalo aaj us gali men – Sharabi – 1964 – Rafi
This almost recital song is one of those great renditions by Rafi which made so many fans go absolutely crazy after him. But he could not have done it without the exceptionally woven words from the pen of Rajendra Krishna. And even for a master like MM, it was not an easy task to turn such long lyrics into a spell-binding tune, but he did it admirably.
22. Kismat jo pilaye humko wo zahar to peena hoga – Ladka Ladki – 1966 – Asha Bhosle
This film is available, but the video of the song is not available. Kishore Kumar has gone mad and his child widow sister Laxmi Chhaya and lover Mumtaz lip-sync the song turn by turn. Rajendra Krishna lyrics, accusing kismat for all things, fit perfectly.
23. Lo ek kali muskai – Ek Kali Muskai – 1968 – Rafi
This film had all things, good cast (except a new heroine), good songs and story not very different from so many successful films of the period, but this still flopped. This song is a romantic song, like the other hit ‘Zulf bikhrati chali aayi ho’, sung by Rafi and is a listening pleasure.
24. Na tum bewafa ho na hum bewafa hain – Ek Kali Muskai – 1968 – Lata Mangeshkar
This film had seven songs, all solos and all distributed among Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. As the mukhda suggests this is a sad song, as there is some snag in the love story of the hero and heroine. This is one the gems of those times and ruled the radio farmaishes.
25. Ye duniya nahin jageer kisi ki – Chowkidaar – 1974 – Rafi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NonA66HexU
Rajendra Krishna returned to the MM fold after 5 years and the result was this. One of the greatest philosophical songs ever. Every word chosen for fitting the situation as was Rajendra Krishna’s wont.
Acknowledgements and Disclaimer:
The song links have been embedded from the YouTube only for the listening pleasure of the music lovers. This blog does not claim any copyright over them, which rests with the respective owners of the rights.
{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
Hans ji
Elaborate and exquisite!
I have a deep personal connection with Rajendra Krishna as Yun hasarto ke daag was the sing that first instilled interest in golden era HFM in me. It was way back in 1974 when as fresh collegians we never went beyond RDB, LO and kA songs (SDB was an exception for me) . My elder brother was a keen fan of golden era music and took me to a shop playing music on demand ( a rarity at Aurangabad those days). He selected a record and I had resigned to the thought of spending a “boring” hour with weepy songs. But the very first song He chose was Yun hasarto ke and I was mesmerized not only by the voice and composition but also by the words. I was not old enough to understand the meaning exactly but could make out the overall meaning. That’s when listening to golden era music seriously happened to me.
My view about why Rajendra Krishna is not given due credit or is not as famous as say Sahir or Majrooh or Shailendra is that he must have been a low keyed person and he combined with another low profile personality. Perhaps he had no Raj Kapoor or Naushad or other big names backing him. These are my personal views .
Your elaborate statistical analysis and commentary on the songs selected makes it a fascinating read. It is surprising to find Kishor at number 2among male solos.
My eternally favourite of this combo is from Sharabi
Kabhi na kabhi – Rafi
https://youtu.be/T4iOgKMV7HE
A great and well researched write up . You have also gone through so many of SOY posts to bring out this post . Not repeating any earlier SOY songs and yet you were able to pick so many gems alongwith good comments makes me think that each of their 268 songs were great.
As always , you have brought in useful supporting statistics for which today anyone would look for a suitable software . Data has added a lot to this writeup. 268 for RK out of a total of 614 MM compositions says a lot about the combo .
Songs in HFM in most cases convey feelings or add to the on screen story and this is possible through lyrics only . I am of the opinion that someone with a literary mind could only appreciate a lyricists role. The Singer and MD both cannot do without the lyrics. It is good that SOY has dependable guest authors for such posts.
So many songs by this combo . I post a song which perhaps in those days was the dream of every man and also what every woman liked to be .
‘ Zaroorat hai zaroorat…/ 1962 / MANMAUJI / RK / MM / Kishore
https://youtu.be/UZwHNCmV0Qo
Hans ji,
Thoroughly researched, well presented, as always.
Good job, well done.
SHARABI Rafi songs are pure gems.
I like both versions of
Saawan ke maheene mein..
Great lyrics, too.
I always feel a SDB aura here.
From Chetan Anand and MM, with Dev Anand to boost, SAHIB BAHADUR was a let down after the phenomenal HAQEEQAT and HEER RANJHA.
Still,
Rahi tha main awara…
KK
Mushkil hai jeena
Bedardon ki duniya mein…
Lata
are good songs.
Door kahin se dekhoon
Dundla sa ek saaya
Saaya toh saaya hota hai
Kab haath kisi ke aaya..
In Mushkil hai jeena.
Going back to my irritating habit of mentioning childhood favorites
Meow Meow meri sakhi
POOJA KE PHOOL
was one because it was liked by the neighborhood Akkas and Maushis who doted upon me.
In my opinion, like everyone else ‘s,
Phir wohi sham..
is one of the best songs of Talat Mehmood ‘s career as well as MM’s. Pity that the movie bombed at the Box office.
JAHAN ARA
Lot of information shared on this subject which we did not know ! I wish to recollect songs from films like Pocket maar (1956) Ye nayi nayi preet hai and Manmauji (1962) like Zaroorat hai and Adalat (1958). As I said earlier in the CR/RR combination , Rajendra Krishna has worked with almost all the composers of his time starting from SDB to RDB for at least 20 years! Looking forward for the combination of Rajendra Krishna with Chitragupta and Ravi.
Hans bhai
Thanks for a great post and for cute write-ups for the songs presented showcasing the skills of Rajendra Krishna and MM.
You have rightly stated that the songs by this pair were popular as well as long-lasting, it did not matter whether the movie in question was a success or a flop.
You belong to that category of song- loving persons who listen to the song very carefully; giving due importance to the lyrics and how the lyricist has brought out:
(a) the situation in the story/screenplay;
(b) the mood and the emotional situation of the character on the screen.
I must add that your skill in analysing statistical data is remarkable – putting you ahead of those officers of Indian Statistical Service with whom I worked in Army Statistical Organisation.
Regards
Hansji,
Highly impressive exploration and statistical details on RK-MM songs. Also an awesome analysis on RK-MM’s songs posted in earlier write-ups of SoY. A lot of hard work must have gone into this. Coming to the lyrics part, that is your forte.
I haven’t listened to the songs. Going through the entire post in one go is still quite a strain for me. Will listen to songs tomorrow.
Kudos once again for a well-researched post.
First of all, in response to AK’s statement that he is responsible for ‘gap in the coverage of lyricists on this blog’, I would say I do not agree to that. He has always encouraged guest authors to write on lyricists. It is true that writing on lyricists is more time consuming and managing such a blog and writing so many posts and replies to comments besides his other commitments, he has hardly time to write on lyricists. Even then he had been writing about the lyrics of songs and explaining other things. It is well known that he has a literary bent of mind. So I am of the view that it is just lack of time which is stopping him to write on lyricists himself.
It is for this reason I have been looking to write on lyricists to enhance this great blog. But, I have failed many deadlines because of lack of time and AK has always encouraged and supported me for which I am thankful. This series was also due a long time ago but I got busy. I am happy I have been able to do it now.
Muliji,
Thanks for the encouraging compliments. In one of the comments I had said the first name of an MD I heard was Madan Mohan, even when I did not know what the job of an MD is. And RK has been one of my favourites since long. I have besides listening to his songs, seen a number of films where he wrote dialogues. Not many people know that screenplay and dialogues of Padosan have been written by him along with its lyrics. So I was extra happy when I got to write on these two stalwarts.
I graduated in 1974 and in the three years of college we saw the youth going crazy on songs like ‘chupke se dil de de nahin te shor mach jayega’. A colleague of our cricket team used to act out perfectly, the Caravan song ‘monica my darling’ in RDB style. Yun hasraton ke daag is such a great song mostly because of lyrics, because composing a gazal was just a cake-walk for MM.
You are perfectly right about reason of RK being less known. He was workaholic, writing 1500+ songs and dialogues for about 80 films and had no time for non-sense. He did not need big names because he had a number of film companies and almost every frontline MD ready to engage him. Regarding Kishore Kumar it is hardly surprising because, firstly he gave music in a number of films where KK acted and secondly, in the initial period he was one of the MDs who supported KK besides SDB.
Kabhi na kabhi – what a song.
‘kab se tanha ghoom raha hoon duniya ke veerane men,
khali jaam liye baitha hoon kab se is maikhane men,’
Josephji,
Thanks for the nice encouraging words. In fact the listing on margins of this blog makes it easy to reach earlier posts. Madan Mohan’s posts were at one place, so I scanned those posts and made necessary notes. This combo had given us so many gems that more posts can be written without getting bored. Their association was so fruitful that if MM had not gone for variety in the form of Raja Mehdi Ali Khan and Kaifi Azmi in the 60s, the numbers could have become phenomenal.
I agree with you that the literary bent of mind is helpful, but the song lyrics of most of the songs are simple as well as having quality. Rajendra Krishna was master of this art.
The ‘zaroorat hai’ song was extremely popular in the radio days and hardly any day went by when this was not played at least two or three times on various stations.
‘haseen hazaron bhi hon khade, magar usi pe nazar pade,
ho zulf gaalon se khelti, ke jaise din raat se lade,’
Look at the way RK describes the contrast of kaali zulf and gore gaal by the phrase ‘din raat se lade’. I left this absolute gem because it was already covered by AK and Sangeeta Gupta both.
Dr Shetty,
Thanks for the nice words of appreciation. About Sharabi the feel of SDB aura might be due to the fact that he composed a lot of Dev Anand films, otherwise MM and SDB are quite different. In the film ‘sawan ke mahine men’ had three versions. Lyrics wise RK was perhaps at his peak about this time.
Sahib Bahadur was a musical let down, but Heer Ranjha was a huge flop despite great music. Most of us feel Priya Rajvansh was not heroine material. In Haqueekat she had limited role. The songs mentioned by you were both popular in those days.
‘Miyaun miyaun meri sakhi’, brought to mind another ‘miyaun miyaun’ which came to our farm house with her two kittens, because the surrounding fields were water-logged due to the late surge of monsoon in Haryana. She was finding easy prey because mice were also lurking due to the water situation. Her kitten were playing with and feasting on ‘jonks’ which had come out.
RK changed the mukhda ‘phir wohi chand wohi hum wohi tanhai hai’ of Baarish, to this mukhda of ‘phir wohi sham wohi gham wohi tanhai hai’ to transform the romantic song into a sad song of separation and the rest was done by MM and Talat.
Hansji has done excellent justice to Rajendra Krishna through the selected gems of RK-MM comobo.
In the days when I was on the records buying spree, HMV had come out with a 33 RPM Ep, which contained six songs as compared normal four songs on a 45 RPM EP. Rhythm House, Bombay was my favourite hunting ground for records. As I was leafing through records, the salesman quietly walked up to me and requested me to the ‘trail’ music room and played that new 33 RPM record. the song that he had selected was
Mere Piya Se Jaa Ke Keh De Jeewan Ka Sahar Teri Yaad Hai
https://youtu.be/AUxF6HomkS0
I purchased only record that day and then had played n-number of times when I reached home after a couple of days.
Wo Bhuli Dataan has been used with more telling effect in Mera Saaya, when Sunil Dutt is shown lost in the memory of his wife with this song playing on record nearby.
I would extend my ‘long’ comment by adding my favorite RK-MM song
Sapne Mein Sajan Se Do Baatein Ek Yaad Rahi Ek Bhul Gaye
https://youtu.be/LCVyU6w9YHY
KB,
Thanks for the appreciation. You have followed his career closely. He worked with a number of MDs from 1947 onwards and his best work covers more than 20 years. In the 70s he wrote songs for 45 films and also wrote some songs occasionally in the 80s. He even worked with MDs like Rajesh Roshan, Sonik-Omi and Ghanshamji.
My computer has given up the ghost within 3 years of purchase and I am just crippled. Am using tablet to send this comment. Once again you have brought out a great post on this iridescent duo and Rajinder Krishan ability to compose appropriate lyrics for the situation in the film is fully borne out. My only grouse is you may think of presenting your statistics of which there is none equal to you in a tabular way for dullards like me to understand. I also know each has his own preferential way of presentation.
How could you not include another great song from chandan (1958)
sung by Mohammad Rafi for Johnny Walker. No video is available. The lyrics is brimming with the concept of the might of the Almighty keeping surveillance on all living beings and how none can escape his scrutiny which is even handed.
Bada hi cID hai
https://youtu.be/_UlruUwiFlY
Rajendra Krishna wrote two breezy duets also in SHARABI and Jaao ji Jaao was as popular as any other duets of the fifties. Similarly I recollect the movie like SAMUNDER (1957) where he wrote great songs like Aaaja kahin se aaja and Chain nahi aaye and the wonderful duet with Mukesh Kya saath mera doge !
Ashok Bhai,
I am so overwhelmed with the brotherly praise in such an endearing way that I am short of words. Regarding statistics, I had this habit since childhood and became almost a craze when I started playing cricket which is a game full of statistics. Thanks again for your nice words.
Venkataramanji,
Thanks for the encouraging words which mean a lot to me. You seem to be on recovery trail, take your own time in listening to the songs. I wish you a smooth return to health.
Deeply researched and well presented write up.
Rajendra Kishan was a great lyricist and his words are simple and carry more meaning than said. RK knew Tamil and used to assist Tamil film industry connected people.
I am not listing any songs as I don’t want any repetition.
Vaishnavji,
Thanks for the appreciation and also for the anecdote on Ashiana Lata gem. I had mentioned this being the left out song despite 6 songs posted from this film. This was also posted by one of the friends in ‘kya bhoolun kya yaad karun’ post. Thanks for posting the song.
Nobody can forget ‘sapne men sajan se do baten’, but this was already posted by AK. Thanks for reposting it.
D P Rangan,
Thanks for the appreciation in a style which only you have. Computers are just machines and can ditch you any time. Hope you have backed up the data.
About stats, I think you have already answered your question. In my view sometimes the simple tables do not convey the facts you want to convey. Suppose, I had put up a table of MM’s lyricists with films and songs and even keeping a column for the start and finish of the association. How it could have shown that during the making of MM-Lata legend of great gazals it was only RK who was his major lyricist and all those were written by him without a single exception. It is true later RMAK and Majrooh wrote a few great gazals, but that was just continuation of the legend put into a concrete base by RK. RMAK-MM started with MM’s first film and continued for 18 years till the death of RMAK, would have been conveyed by the table. But, it would not have conveyed the fact that for 11 years out of these 18 they did not work together for a single song. Similarly, in Sahir’s case it would have shown a long association of 21 years, which was not true. And also in some cases tables take more space than simple narratives with data.
Thanks for posting the Chandan song, but I did not forget it. How can I forget so famous song and that too filmed on JW. But this song was already posted by you as well as AK in your posts. In fact, AK also posted the Mastana song ‘mat bhool are insaan’ which has similar sentiments. But, your mentioning it has given me the opportunity to highlight another facet of RK. Look at the lyrics of ‘bada he cid hai’, they clearly appear to have been written keeping in mind JW. The other such songs, the one posted by AK and the other posted by me at no. 4 are written for different purposes and have lyrics for the occasion. That was the greatness of RK.
KB, @ 14
You are correct, both the duets were great but they were overshadowed by the greater solos of the film. I give here links to both duets.
Jao ji jao, dekhe hain bade, tum jaise chor lutere – Asha, Rafi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5ILgD8Qgjg
Tum ho haseen kahan ke, hum chand aasman ke – Rafi, Asha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeY3OkeWMQU
Samundar was produced by Prem Nath and had lot of great songs, some of them mentioned by you. There was a special kind of audience for such films containing ships, fights and upheavals. I am posting the Lata gem ‘aaja kahin se aaja’ which would show glimpses of these fights. The film was registered as a costume film and the exquisite ghaghra of Bina Rai has been shown in detail at the start of the song. In the last antara she has shed the dupatta and her designer blouse (not the kind of modern cholis) is in full view.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrrWVgJPdSU&t=89s
Besides the songs mentioned by you, I had to skip this peppy song by Geeta Dutt in her inimitable style. Now I get the opportunity to post it.
‘Dil ko lagayen ye ganwara bhi nahin,
pyar kiye bina guzara bhi nahin.’
Antaras are just great and show RK’s repertoire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJPGORpxJ6w
R Vasudevan,
Thanks for your appreciation of the post. Also thanks for confirming about his knowing Tamil. He had written lyrics for about 30 films produced by Madras based production houses. He also wrote dialogues for many of them. AVM was the front runner among them for whom he wrote lyrics and dialogues in at least 15 films. Manek Premchand has in his book written that AV Meiyappan hated cigarette smoking and had banned it on sets, but he made an exception for RK and had even provided him with a person to hold ashtray.
Hansji, your statistical analysis is brilliant. This also shows how much effort you have put in to collate this kind of data.
I wanted to mention one song of Manmauji – Murge Ne Jhooth Bola
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2ehZoy8hHI
Interestingly there are two versions – the one sung by Kamal Barot is for a child artist and the same song is sung by Asha Bhosle for the same girl but as a grown-up.
Hans,
I’m not interested in statistics, but I am very interested in lyricists. Like you, I firmly believe that without the words, the songs would never have achieved the popularity or iconic status (or both) that they did/do. 🙂 Thank you for a walk down the memory lane of RK songs, especially for MM. Apart from the ones mentioned, I like the songs of a ‘lesser’ film – Chacha Zindabad – especially the Lata solo Bairan neend na aaye
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWuA5EgfdLo
and the Lata-Manna duet Preetam dharas dikhao.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koCcAQKaKzU
Anita,
Thanks for the appreciation of article as well as statistics. ‘Murge ne jhooth bola’ Kamal Barot version was a big hit and a sure selection for children songs in radio days. The Asha version was used in film to tell Kishore Kumar his sister’s location.
Anu Warrier,
Thaks for the appreciation and sharing your views about the lyricists with which I totally agree. In my view, the first deterioration came in the field of lyrics when we lost some of them and Directors started demanding lyrics as per their agenda and also quickly from good lyricists. RK is the best example of this with many ordinary songs which he wrote in 70s.
Statistics I use for making my point and they are also an important part of life.
Both of the songs you posted from Chacha Zindabad were popular. The Lata solo was posted in earlier posts on MM, so I skipped it. In fact the film itself is fun filled like many of KK films.
Hansji,
An excellent, elaborate and well-written post on the best combos in HFM, who have provided us songs that are evergreen even today.
Being interested in statistical information, I am always impressed with the way you present the data and statistics through analysis and interpretation. Your insights on the songs and lyrics further enhance the write-up.
Quite glad to see the Chowkidar song in the list, the only one from the 70s. It used to play regularly on Vividh Bharti during my school days and I used to find the song and lyrics quite impressive.
I am quite fond of the songs of Sanjog. Besides the two songs mentioned, I would like to mention – Chala hai kahan, Badli se nikla hai chand and especially, Jis raat jale na parwane which has Mehmood lip syncing to Rafi and also to Asha as a female.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tErsGfDBvU
I believe, there is one typing error . The year for Baaghi is mentioned as 1970, it is actually 1953.
Dr Deshpande,
Thanks for pointing out the typo. Now corrected.
Hansji,
I have always wondered as to who decided which song should be written by which lyricist – the music director, the director or the producer? There is a tendency though to strongly link the lyricist with the music director. I specially refer to those movies where there are multiple lyricists. The question also arises as to why certain movies had multiple lyricists. It is also very difficult to make out as to which song which lyricist has written in the movie, as the credits are mentioned song wise. [The movie Modern Girl (1961) is an exception where the lyricist and the song written by him are mentioned in the title credits]. Since I share the same love for lyrics that you do, I felt I must ask you.
Thank you so much for this in-depth article on the combination of RK and MM….you have featured the other lyricists as well…..Even though there was a gap of a few years, they were never apart.
Dr Deshpande,
Thanks for the appreciation and also for the correction in date. This shows how carefully you read the posts. It is always nice to find a person with similar likes.
I share with you, the thoughts about the Chowkidar song, which is one of the best in the category. The song starts in the background of shamshan where people have pure and philosophical thoughts. RK wrote so many philosophical songs with great lyrics and he proved here that this genre was his forte even so late in his career.
About Sanjog too you are right. Three songs had already been covered and I did the fourth. Your mentioning two more uncovered songs tells how much variety this combo produced in this film.
Anita,
You have asked a very tricky question. I think nobody can have a straight answer. I have gone through your post on this subject and share your dilemma. Initially when there was contract system there used to be more than one lyricists on board and it was common to have multiple lyricists in a film. There were more than one MD too under that system. Later single MD system came and ultimately the single MD and single lyricist became a regularity.
So far as decision regarding lyricist is concerned, as per hierarchy of film making Director has the confidence of the Producer. Similarly, MD came as a choice by Director in consultation with Producer. If MD was influential, he would mostly decide the lyricist. Most of good composers used to work with one lyricist which was better for coordination purposes. I think under this set up if a composer wanted to use second lyricist in the same film he would have to get the nod of Director or at least inform him. Less influential MDs always faced more restrictions from above.
Some Producers or Directors had their own likes and dislikes. You can see in the case of CR, who had free hand most of the times. Even when he was using RK with so much regularity, in Shantaram’s films like Parchhain and Subah Ka Tara, RK did not figure as lyricist. Shantaram also had an aversion to Rafi, which is documented with Ram Lal’s interview in which he says that Rafi was called for reluctantly when Mahendra Kapoor did not produce the effect needed for ‘taqdeer ka fasana’. Even after such high class singing by Rafi in Sehra, Shantaram reverted to Mahendra Kapoor for Geet Gaya Pattharon Ne.
Regarding giving credit in titles for each song, I would say it is difficult and also lengthy. Our films do not give names of characters the actors perform in the film for the same reason perhaps. But, the names of lyricist of every song is on the record and this was so when the practice of mentioning name of the singer had not yet started. So there was never a difficulty in recognising the lyricist. But, you have done well in noticing the fact in the titles of Modern Girl. In fact your whole article is well researched.
Sangeeta ji,
Thanks for the appreciation and liking the post. Since this was a post on Rajendra Krishna, I was duty bound to give those facts and statistics which showed him in a better light and I used only true facts and there is no speculation attached. There is nothing against other lyricists, basically because I respect every good lyricist and his work. But, the facts should be given if they show some trend. If there is a gap of some years, there has to be some reason.
Hans ji,
Many Thanks for this detailed post. It requires lot of patience, dedication and perseverance to come up with such work.
I would like to write on Mukesh angle to the duo.
Mukesh started his career in 1940 and MM exactly a decade later. The debut film of MM had Mukesh singing a sad solo, his forte, and a comic duet with Shamshad Begum, both written by Raja Mehndi Ali Khan.
Thereafter, in 26 years, MM roped in Mukesh for a total of only 09 songs. Out of this 6 were written by RK.
Posting the two solos of the trio from Duniya Na Maane and Sanjog.
https://youtu.be/IiSvSWiNeBE
https://youtu.be/Qa1-jnWucYM
Thanks.
Hansji
Your article is without doubt “BeyMisal Hai”!
All the experts have already praised and the late comer like me there is nothing more left to praise your hard work and wonderful insight of the Combo Rajendra Krishna & Madan Mohan. It is “Sonemein Suhag” indeed!
You brought the beauty and in-depth meaning in your refined and erudite article.
Sorry about late coming but Covid-19 still hangs over me.
All in all it is a an outstanding study of the two giants!
Thank your very much and thanks to AK that he made the facility to bring out your rare quality to us.
Shalan La
Mahesh,
Thanks for the nice words of appreciation and for the two solos of Mukesh. As you know, AK had written on Mukesh songs with Roshan and Madan Mohan and he had included both solos and both duets of Duniya Na Mane and Sanjog, so I skipped them. My views on less songs for Mukesh are more or less same which I expressed in comments there. I think Mukesh’s decision of going for singer-actor robbed us of about 3/4 hundred songs.
Shalan ji,
Many thanks for the kind words of appreciation. Believe me what you said is more important than all that was said by other friends. The last line of your comment is the reality. The whole credit for me to be a guest author goes to AK. He has been encouraging me ever since we met for this and in the end I jumped in the fray.
It is worrying that you are still having some after effects from covid. I think too much propaganda has turned it into something of a ghost and it works more on the mind than the body. I am sure you will get out of this with the help of the Hindu philosophy you believe in.
The song in the film ‘pooja ke phool’ sanam apne palkonpe…by Rajinder Krishan seems to be incomplete. Kindly share info if any.
Sambhaji Gayake,
Welcome to Songs Of Yore. All the YouTube links are of about a minute and a half. So you may be right. One has to watch the full film to know the exact situation.